PENN, William (1644-1718). Zonder kruys geen kroon. Translated by Willem Sewel. Amsterdam: Jacob Klaus, 1687.

Presentation copy from the Dutch translator to the author and his friend, William Penn, of his classic Quaker polemic No Cross, No Crown. Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania and a prominent thinker in the Quaker movement. No Cross, No Crown was written during his imprisonment for blasphemy in the Tower of London. Penn and Sewel (whose English father had fled religious persecution to settle in the Netherlands) struck up a friendship and Sewel translated several of Penn's works, including his account of Pennsylvania. The two men corresponded in Latin; extant letters between them discuss this translation, and Sewel's feeling that Presbyterians were trying to sabotage its marketing. Smith, Friends' books, v. 2, p. 301.

12mo (128 x 72mm). Small woodcut initial on first text leaf (a few small stains). Contemporary blind-stamped calf, with William Penn's initials gilt-stamped on upper board (upper joint starting, a few abrasions, first blank detached). Provenance: William Penn (1644-1718; Latin gift inscription from the translator, Willem Sewel).